


Fever Haze

by kutikue, LetoaSai



Series: Familiars [5]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crack Pairings, Familiars, M/M, Magic Academy, Most are kutikues fault, Rescue, Witches, magic fevers, someone is catching feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27792817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kutikue/pseuds/kutikue, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetoaSai/pseuds/LetoaSai
Summary: Hayner was just trying to finish his paper and clear his head. He didn't expect to need help or get it from the one familiar he thought wanted to kick his ass.
Relationships: Andrea Rhodea/Chadley, Hayner/Seifer (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: Familiars [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1696579
Comments: 33
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

Hayner couldn’t comprehend why he was having trouble with this paper. It was just magic theory. He loved magic theory. What was more fun than coming up with a wild idea and then breaking it down into plausible pieces that might even be worth practicing? 

The composition and problem solving was something he felt he was moderately good with. He didn’t consider himself one of those over confident witches who always thought their first thoughts were the correct ones. 

Picking apart the fundamental elements of a spell was...fun. Coming up with multiple ways to work out one problem was like a puzzle that could be done differently over and over. The fact that it was _theory_ made it better. It was creating plausible alternatives that he didn’t have put into action if he didn’t choose to. 

He liked it. So why couldn’t he think? 

Midterms were around the corner and he’d been studying but it was so different from usual. Sleep was harder to come by but that wasn’t unusual. 

Deciding the paper just wouldn’t be written today he shut his reference book and rubbed at his eyes. Not even being in the academy’s grand library had any ideas sparking.

“It seems you are having difficulty. Might I be of assistance?” Chadley’s overly-professional way of speaking was always a little strange, but somehow it sounded much more natural in the library. Rumor had it the postgraduate student had always been this level of formal, even when the occasion really called for a bit less stiffness.

Hayner looked up and offered him a smile. “Hey Chadley. Thanks, no. I dunno. I’m thinking i’m heading towards burned out.” He slid his theory notes towards him mostly because Chadley always seemed to be the kind of person who was genuinely curious. 

Thus far he only had his opening paragraph. “Can’t seem to concentrate. I’m sure i read the same page eight times.” he tapped the book he’d been reading. 

“Your conclusion seems logical; re-reading the same thing over and over and retaining no information is a perfect example. I would suggest changing subjects or taking a break, perhaps a walk outside. It seems to often jog one’s mind.” Chadley nodded along as he thought out loud. “You do seem to be onto something here. However, if your mind cannot concentrate, trying to force it will only prolong the ‘burn-out’.”

Hayner couldn’t help but smile. “That sounds like a good idea. Fresh air might be what I need. Thanks. I’m clearly not going to get any more work done right now.” 

“When you return, please feel free to seek me out. I am always thrilled to help a student with their work.” Being in the library really suited him, and he was thinking about making it permanent. Not like he’d ever run out of things to research and study anyways.

There was a small motion as a skunk totteled over from the second floor, looking at Hayner like a real-life Pepé le Pew with the way he stood on his back legs and leaned on the desk...eyeing Hayner.

“Hello Andi.” Hayner greeted, not put off by the familiar. “How are you?” he asked, despite knowing he couldn’t respond in that form.

A paw came up to fluff the fur off of a black and white furred cheek just below his charm earring, (Chadley wore the other one, another odd habit of his. Most witches didn't wear a 'charm' to mirror their partner's), and Hayner could nearly hear him saying the implied ‘fabulous, and yourself?’ even without the penultimate flirt changing forms to speak.

Hayner laughed and dug through his bag to pull out some peanut butter crackers. He didn’t know about the crackers part but he knew skunks liked peanut butter. “Here, want one? You’re always so damn helpful to Chadley.” He thought they were a sweet pair, and no one dared make fun of Chadley's speech patterns or habits while Andi was on the prowl. 

Andi took it carefully with his paws, looking pleased and handing it to Chadley, who wrapped it in a little napkin before returning it to Andrea who took it in his mouth and scampered off towards the outdoor balcony on the second floor.

They both took the no eating or drinking in the library rule very seriously.

Hayner laughed, “Andi’s really sweet, isn’t he?” He stood, packing his things away and feeling a little woozy. Maybe he’d stop for lunch. 

“Do take care Hayner. You're looking thirty-percent paler then your usual pallor, and it’s not winter.” Chadley carefully picked up some of the books Hayner had left for re-shelving, and promptly got lost in one “Oh, that is a fun area of study…”

Hayner huffed and smiled a little. They were a strangely good pair and he liked that about them. Too many people tried to pair themselves with someone too similar to themselves and that might work on occasion but Hayner was looking for something a little more...fulfilling. 

Maybe it was a silly notion, but for now he’d just enjoy his rotation of partners and explore what was out there. 

He slung his bag over his shoulder and wandered through the many bookshelves before finding his way out again. The library really was one of those areas where no expense had been spared. He liked it there, but he admittedly liked most parts of the academy. The labs were perfect for practicing and the grove literally had everything they would need. The dorms were a quiet place and he was thankful to live on campus. Anything beat going home too often. 

Once outside he was really giving thought to food but it suddenly felt like too much effort. He was tired but it felt too early to head back to his dorm. Somewhere in the back of his mind his paper nagged at him. He really could have gotten more done if he had just been able to focus a little harder. 

Maybe all he required as a change of scenery? The idea sounded stupid as soon as he thought it but he wasn’t ready to let go of it just yet. Theory. It was just magic theory. He could do that no matter how tired he was. Some people even included theories they knew to be wrong just to prove all the avenues a witch's train of thought could go. 

That might be an interesting route to take even if it wasn’t part of the assignments guidelines. 

Hayner continued walking, eyes half lidded as he thought about the next stretch of his paper. Had he been in a better frame of mind, he might have noted what direction he was going in, or paid attention at all to where he was about to end up. 

There was a loud exclamation and a hand at the back of Hayner’s shirt as he was abruptly pulled back off his feet, a truck’s horn blaring as it passed less than an inch from his nose before he fell down. But instead of concrete, there was an arm wrapped around him and a body breaking his fall. “You fuckin’ idiot, look where your going!”

“Yeah.” That was likely good advice. Staring up at the sky was a strange sudden turn. It took Hayner even longer to realize he’d been pulled back and he was sitting now. It was like each movement had happened too fast for him to understand and he was catching up slowly. 

He just couldn’t think.

“Ah, shit.” It was softer this time and something cool was on his forehand. Oh, it was someone’s hand. “You’ve got focus fever, don’t you.” it wasn’t really a question.

Hayner shook his head but stopped when that proved to be too much effort. He didn’t think he did, but...well it was midterms. He couldn’t think. He also wasn’t a hundred percent sure where he was at the moment. Everything was just a calm daze. “That would make sense…” 

“Ugh,” The voice sighed again and suddenly Hayner’s ass was on the concrete “C’mon, lets get you up and somewhere safer you can nap this shit off.” A tanned, calloused hand was thrust down at the witch.

Hayner was tired. That summed his feelings up nicely. He blinked at the hand, taking far too long to understand what was being asked of him before he held it and made no effort to pull himself up. Where had he even been going again?

“Geez, you're faded.” He was pulled to his feet and the tanned hand led to a tanned arm that went carefully around him. It could pass as a friendly motion, but it was all business, to keep him steady “Okay...you headed home or dorms or…?”

“I’m tired.” he said instead of actually answering the question. He lulled his head back to look, surprise failing to penetrate his haze. “Seifer…” What was this asshole doing? His confusion practically doubled. 

“Yeah, no surprise you're tired, you look like shit.” He’d managed to drag them to a nearby tree. “Where do you want to sleep? Cause if you don’t pick somewhere for me to take you, i’m gonna just drop you in the shade here for a bit til you're more coherent.”

His thought shifted, his brain trying to keep up. Why would Seifer take him anywhere? Why would Seifer help him at all? He’d avoided the guy for over a year since he’d cussed Seifer out for saying something rude to Aqua. Seifer didn’t just help people. 

Slowly he looked down at the grass. “Here’s good…”

He was lowered surprisingly gently to the area with the most shade, as if him getting a sunburn was the biggest concern right now, before Seifer sat nearby, looking like he wasn’t going anywhere.

Hayner turned his head just enough to look at him. The familiar had always been a jerk. He was mouthy in class and rude to just about everyone. Hayner had never seen him with a partner for longer than the duration of a project. Him being helpful now didn’t seem right. 

His plan was to ask him what he thought he was doing… and what his angle in this was. Instead what came out was, “Do you think spell circles and sigils can replace each other in certain spells? Did sigils come first? I can’t remember.”

“Depends on what you're aiming for. As for which came first, it's area-dependent. Probably both came around at the same time but northern-areas were wicked into sigils while islander and such massively over-used circles. I think sigils are more practical personally, more versatile and less flimsy.” He looked weirdly thoughtful staring up at the clouds like that.

Hayner let the thoughts wash over him. Made sense. “Spell circles are handy but they do feel more basic. You can add so much to make them stronger but it seems to suck out the point of a spell circle being short hand if you’re going to add more shit to it.” He paused. “I like sigils but there are a billion of them. It could be its own field of study. It probably is and I should know that.”

“Your right. It is and you should know that. Really though, they both have their own perks, and it's mostly situational for what's gonna work better. In theory. In practice, most everyone picks one or the other and sticks with what feels more aligned with their own brand.” They’d ended up quite a bit closer, Seifer laying down and his head about a foot from Hayner’s now as he really got into the idea.

“I don’t know which I like better but I guess I use shorthand more. Shorthand spell circles feed on a witches intentions but sigils feed off their desired outcome. It’s the same but not.” Hayner continued to babble. “Determined on spell work I guess, but the same spell would change with each one in the others place. Like a new ingredient.” 

He couldn’t stop. The thoughts were coming out one after another. 

“...I got a notebook if you wanna jot that down.” Hayner getting this out of his system would help burn off the feedback loop faster.

“Yeah.” Hayner stared at the sky. “Yeah. I’m tired.” He was digging through his own bag without looking for a pen. “This isn’t breakthrough stuff but i’m blowing my own mind. Does sigil desire trump spell circle intent?” 

Seifer wordlessly put a pen in Hayner’s hand after putting a notebook down in front of him “...I’d think that was also situational, but thats something else to research.”

Hayner rolled onto his stomach putting himself closer to Seifer as he started scribbling down his own thoughts. He just had to hope he’d be able to decipher it later. Alongside them he added whatever spell circles and sigils came to mind. He could test it on weaker spells if he wanted to. Something so simple it couldn’t possibly go wrong. 

In only a few minutes of writing he was too tired to even hold his head up anymore and instead rested his forehead on the paper. “I think i have a fever…”

Instead of a verbal answer, the rough tongue of a lynx licked his forehead. His fur was surprisingly soft for how coarse it was, and his hip made a nice pillow.

Almost without meaning to, Hayner sent a pulse of magic into him. His whole body shuddered from suddenly expelling so much magic but it also had him turning into an instant pile of goo while resting against fur. 

Seifer tensed up hard from surprise before curing more completely around Hayner in a very protective manner, enjoying the sudden boost to his own system. It was...a lot. But not too much for him to comfortably handle.

Hayner’s eyes were heavy and he reached out to run his hands across the fur pillowing him. After getting rid of excess magic and a pending nap, he was already anticipating feeling better when he woke up. Maybe then things would make sense. 

There was a deep, quiet purring noise that continued the entire time Hayner slept on him. It was weirdly nice.

~  
Hayner woke as confused as when he’d fallen asleep, only for different reasons. The fur under his face wasn’t normal and it took him a long moment to remember why it was there. 

He’d...almost gotten hit by a car. “Ugh…” Fever’s were the worst. 

He pushed himself up shakily, and it didn’t take long for everything else to come back. Seifer. Seifer was a lynx. What a strange damn day. 

“I don’t get it.” Hayner muttered, rubbing at his face. Sleep still clinging to him. “Why would you stay? It doesn’t fit the Seifer i know.” 

His head raised slightly as Seifer too a few seconds and changed back, Hayner’s head now on his stomach “Your sick. I’m an asshole, not heartless.” There was a hand on his forehead “...about the same temp-wise, you less foggy?”

“Honestly, i can’t decide.” Hayner muttered. For whatever reason, leaning on Seifer was taking up way more brain space than the fact that he could have died in the road. 

He’d never seen any evidence before that Seifer wasn’t heartless, but here they were.

“You seem at least a little more coherent. Other than that rambling, notebooks back in your backpack by the way, it was hard to get more than a word or three out of you. Ready to head back somewhere to properly rest yet, or you wanna chill here for a bit?” His hand went from Hayner’s forehead to move the witch’s hair away from where it had been covering his face; and then started to gently muss it around.

Hayner’s throat tightened and he was blaming the heat he felt on what was left of the fever. “I was studying and things got blurry.” Hayner sighed. “Fresh air. That’s what I was doing. Out here a little longer might be nice before going back to my dorm.” 

“Air is fine. You shoulda stuck to the grounds or hit the grove though, do you even realize that truck almost took you out?” He sounded extremely unhappy.

It wasn’t one of his more graceful moments. “No.” he muttered. “Not at the time.” 

“How ‘bout now?”

“Yeah, sorta.” It was fuzzy but at least he’d know it was almost a thing. 

“Idiot.” The hand in his hair stayed gentle.

“I guess I run towards self-destructive.” He laughed nervously. 

That got a heftier frown. “You got someone to look after you for at least tonight? Who's your term partner, I can grab them on the way back.”

“Ah, i don’t have a permanent term partner, i’m on rotation.” Hayner shrugged, rubbing at his eyes. “Prolly just go back to my dorm room. Witches dorms.” The dorms for witches without partners. 

“How the hell…” Seifer moved to get them up and moving “Fine then, i’ll stick with you til your heads back on straight,”

“You’re acting weird.” Hayner muttered, still fuzzy on just what was going on. He’d been avoiding Seifer for weeks. Avoiding what he thought was an imminent fight. 

“How would you know? Not like we’ve ever hung out.” It was an excellent point.

“Maybe that’s right too.” Hayner took a step and his knees nearly dropped out on him. Seifer caught him no problem, hoisting one of Hayner’s arms over his shoulder “You good to walk or am I carrying you?”

His face felt hot. “I’ll try to walk some. Fevers always take it out of me.” Usually he could crawl into bed and sleep it off. The nap had helped but obviously not enough if he was stumbling already. 

There was an odd feeling of vertigo and suddenly he was being carried bridal-style “I’d rather not have to break your fall again today, thanks. What floor?”

“Second.” Hayner muttered, ears going hot. He clung to Seifer’s shoulder reflexively and this was odd. Like really odd. Like he didn’t know if this was really happening or if it was a fever dream odd. [Like, is any of this for real...or not?]

Seifer had a reputation, and not a particularly good one. Unless he was about to be pranked, Seifer was breaking too many molds just by helping him. 

Seifer didn’t say anything else til they were on the stairs “Left or right?” He was being very careful with the witch, his fever was higher than he was comfortable with. He really could have been seriously hurt, even if the truck didn’t hit him...how long would it have been until someone had noticed and helped?

“Right.” Hayner mumbled, somewhat flustered. He’d never actually had a familiar in his dorm room before. Now was not the time to think about that but… now he couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

“What’s your room number?” He was trying to keep things simple since Hayner seemed so distracted. He figured the head fog was getting worse again.

“Two-oh-eight.” Hayner muttered, hoping that was right. He’d be stupidly embarrassed otherwise. “Fourth door?” he offered instead.

“You seriously...wheres your key?” He asked, frustration mounting as he stared at what he hoped was the right door.

Hayner had to wiggle, praying the hallway stayed empty as he pulled the key out of his pocket. “Here.” 

Seifer turned to put Hayner’s hand near the door “.....you gonna open it or what.”

There was a second where Hayner pictured himself completely tumbling out of Seifer’s arms but he got the key in and the doorknob turned anyway. 

There was nothing special about his dorm. They were all pretty standard. He did have his share of textbooks and labeled notebooks. There was a shelf filled with grocery bags and ziplocs of ingredients and a poster of his struggle team that he’d put up years ago and never bothered to take down. The only one that ever really came here was Sora. 

“You would be into Struggle. You play or just cheer?” He managed to close the door behind them with a foot before setting Hayner down carefully on the bed “Where's your first-aid kit.” They were supposed to be one in every room. 

“Under the desk.” Hayner answered after a good minute of thought. “I played when i was younger. Struggle little league. I liked it. I still like it, it just got to be troublesome. Cheering is just as good.” His hands were on his forehead like he could push the discomfort away.

“Open,” Seifer was sitting on the edge of Hayner’s bed with the thermometer.

There was a long moment where Hayner’s confusion doubled before understanding hit him. “Oh, right.” He muttered, opening his mouth every bit like a child. 

“....close.” He kept holding it too, while it was under Hyaner’s tongue. This was out of control, and he was starting to get pissed that Hayner had let it get so bad.

“Close?” Hayner repeated tiredly, wondering when Seifer turned into such a mother hen. Witches got fevers. It was just a fact of life. 

“Close your mouth so I can get an accurate reading.” His eyebrow had started to twitch.

Oh… Hayner heaved a sigh and did as he was told. Mother hen fit perfectly, but maybe Hayner wasn’t getting as better as fast as he thought he was. 

Eyebrows raised dangerously as the beeping started and Seifer read the temp “How...do you feel about going to medical.”

Hayner puffed out a laugh and curled up around his pillow. “It’s not bad enough to go to medical.” Nearly getting hit by a car wasn’t his best day but he just needed to close his eyes for a while. 

“102.8. Thats...high.” He looked a bit nervous.

It probably was, and he could probably just call medical but there was only so much they would tell him today behind siphoning off some magic and getting to sleep. “Yeah. Surprised I woke up earlier.” 

It was the wrong thing to say, the familiar looked positively horrified by that “Okay. Look, you don’t want to go to medical, fine, cool. You need someone here to make sure you're okay. You got someone to bring over here?...a familiar?”

Hayner yawned. “Rotation is only for classes. Don’t have a partner.” He was on friendly terms with a number of familiars but he couldn’t think of one that would drop everything to come babysit him. 

“Well, shit. Guess i’m sticking around for the next bit.” Not that he really minded, his only plans had involved some at-home stuff that could be done anytime. Be a good moment to catch up on some studying. And, if he was being totally honest...he really wouldn’t mind a few more doses of Hayner’s magic. It was tasty.

Hayner couldn’t tell if the fever was making him stupid or if he really was that confused. “You want to watch me sleep?” 

Seifer’s eyes went wide as his face went beat-red “Wha-no!...I want to make sure someone’s here to help you and make sure you're okay, idiot! You have a stupid-high fever and can barely string together two thoughts, if you get worse, how long is it gonna take for someone to check on you? Think you're coherent enough to get help if you need it?!”

“You’re yelling at me.” Hayner blinked, oddly fascinated. Seifer was a jerk. He smirked and he scoffed and he didn’t give a shit about people. He was rude and downright crass sometimes. So what was this? He was being genuinely kind and Hayner was reaching out to touch him before he even realized he was doing it. 

“No shit,” He didn’t move out of the way. “You seriously...don’t get it do you. You need help right now.”

“Poke.” Hayner mumbled, tapping his fingers to Seifer’s arm and pushing a zap of magic into him. Yeah, maybe not his brightest move.

“Mm…” It did have Seifer simmering down a bit “How overcharged are you anyways?”

“Uuum.” Hayner sighed. “Well i’m not asleep so it can’t be too bad.” he wondered if he had anything in his room besides Seifer that would help. “Fair amount to get rid of though.”

There was a weight at his side as a lynx curled up next to him, chin on his ribs and blinking at him.

“You’ve got super pretty kitty eyes.” Hayner muttered, hand lazily moving to touch the top of his head. He was too tired to do a real petting motion but he tried anyway. This was nice. He liked a nice Seifer way more than a moody, angry one. 

Smugness radiated from the familiar at the complement as a low rumbling purr noise vibrated from Seifer’s body through Hayner’s torso. He butted his head up against the hand, apparently happy enough with even half-assed pets.

A tiny bit more magic was passed over but Hayner’s eyes were already closed. Seifer hadn’t been bothered by it the last time so he figured it was okay. He didn’t want to force too much on him, but Seifer was still looking like he was enjoying it more than anything else. 

If he was lucky, he’d wake up with a clear mind and a full familiar.


	2. Chapter 2

His morning alarm blaring on his phone had him gasping, the unwelcome noise scaring the fuck out of him. He fumbled with his side table where his phone usually sat and couldn’t find it. Instead he felt the vibration against his leg, the phone still kept in his pocket. 

“Why noise.” he complained. “Stop noise.” A hand that was _very much not his_ reached into the pocket and hit the alarm off.

Hayner jerked once, obviously forcing his eyes open before he was ready and nearly falling off the bed in the process. “What the fuck!?” 

“Take it easy! Jeez, that didn’t scare you nearly as much yesterday.” Seifer’s hand was on Hayner, keeping him from actually falling, just in case.

“What the fuck are you talking about!?” Hayner's eyes were wide and it was impossible to know if it was still the fever talking or not. “What are you…” Was Seifer the one to bring him back to his dorm?

“Yesterday. When your alarm went off you just hit snooze like twenty times before it gave up.” There was a hand reaching over to check his forehead.

Hayner swatted his hand away from him and swallowed, nerves circling. He didn’t remember that. He did vaguely remember sleeping on fur though. Soft lynx fur and pretty eyes. “I… why are you here?”

“Someone needed to take care of you. Proff. Trepe says not to worry about your missed classes, we got excused.” He tried to touch Hayner’s forehead again, looking slightly annoyed.

“Professor…” Hayner almost fumbled. “You talked to Professor Trepe about…?” He rubbed at his face. “How long was i asleep?” And why did he let Seifer of all people in his room?

“Well, yeah. She’s the one listed as your emergency contact on your planner page.” Which was really, really weird. Hayner was a Cowden, they were rich-rich. He had the rich-boy clothes, the rich-boy bedding...the authentic merch signed by his favorite struggle team. There were even diamond-grade ingredients in his room, not that Seifer had done much snooping. Just a fair bit to find the poor witch some pajamas and some meds to take the edge off of the fever.

It didn’t quite add up. What was a nice, kind, pretty and loaded guy like him doing with no partner and a teacher as his EC. What about his family even?

“Two days off and on. Two and a half if you count the afternoon I brought you over. I guess today’s day three, ‘bout 7:30 now.”

Hayner winced, three days was a bad fever and he didn’t even want to think about how he would have managed it on his own. Just because he’d done it before didn’t mean it was enjoyable. “Damn it.” he muttered, rubbing his face again. He felt gross and likely needed a shower. Well, this was embarrassing. “Having Professor Trepe on my contact list just made sense.” He didn’t bother explaining further. 

It was nice to know he was excused from class for a little longer though. Feeling better didn’t mean he wasn’t still feeling the fatigue. “Damn.” he repeated. 

There was a bottle of water being pushed into his hands. Electrolyte infused. “You're probably dehydrated again. I think you're almost close to a normal temp, lemme grab the thermometer before you drink that.” He was out of the bed and moving to the desk in a single fluid motion, all without mussing the bedding around Hayner.

Seifer had been in his bed. He felt his face go hot and his head feel dizzy for reasons other than a fever. He held the bottle in confusion, his last memories fuzzy. Seifer had been the one to bring him back but had he stayed for three days?

“...do I seriously still need to tell you to say ‘ah’?” There was a thermometer in front of Hayner’s mouth again.

“What?” Hayner was startled all over again, a bundle of tightly wound nerves. He was still hesitant but put the thermometer in his mouth. 

Seifer was actually tapping his foot waiting for it to go off “...99.3, that's way better.” He walked back to the desk to put it away and write down--.....he’d been keeping a damn log of Hayner’s temperatures.

He pushed back his hair that was dirty and sweat covered, limp in his face. “Okay, i really don’t know what’s going on.” It was all the more alarming that he had no familiar to take care of him if this was normal to him. 

“You’ve been sick. Fever got over one oh three, so I looked up your EC. Trepe told me to keep track of your temp spikes, and a range of how long you could be in certain areas before you had to head to medical, dropped off some willow bark too.” The pestle and mortar in the corner wasn’t in the same spot as usual, and it looked like Seifer had helped himself to some of Hayner’s stock.

“Yeah, i don’t remember any of that.” Hayner said slowly, heaving a sigh. “I remember being outside.” He remembered sleeping on a lynx. “What a mess.”

“You were wandering into traffic. Almost got hit by a truck. Took a nap under a tree, then came back here.” Seifer was quietly horrified that none of that seemed to really faze Hayner. If anything, he was more….embarrassed? About being taken care of? The fuck.

“Traffic, that’s a new one.” Hayner laughed nervously. He glanced down at his arms and saw only old scars. “Well, thank you? I guess.” He’d crossed into new territory with this one. He’d never been so gone before that it put himself in that kind of harm. Usually it was...well it wasn’t that.

“You. Guess.” He was supremely unimpressed “Look, you seriously need a partner if that’s normal for you. Outside of class.”

Hayner shrugged, he’d heard this lecture before. “Look, it’s not every familiar’s job to look after me. I haven’t found a partner yet and i haven’t been home recently to see mama so things have built up.” He was too tired to realize what a strange statement that was. “Hopefully i’ll be okay now.” 

“Mama?” He looked confused. Shaking his head, he added “No, but it is kinda ingrained for us to look after someone when they get sick like that, you know?”

Hayner sat awkwardly, he still hadn’t expected Seifer to drop everything to help him. “My mama’s a familiar.” he muttered. “She raised me.”

“Oh. Like, one of your parent’s or…?” He felt dumb now, he’d called his dad’s witch Auntie but a lot of witches and familiars considered their parent’s partners to be their parents as well.

“She’s technically my mother’s familiar.” Hayner explained, tone matter of fact. “But my mother is a bitch so...She doesn’t really get the mama title.” 

A dark look passed over Seifer’s face “Yeah. I get that.”

Something about his tone had Hayner believing him, and offering him a little more. “Mama usually helps since i don’t have a partner of my own.”

“Hn. Well…” He looked at the wall next to Hayner’s face “We could partner up. For the term.”

It wasn’t just surprise on Hayner’s face but downright shock. “What? Us? You don’t even like me.” But he’d just spent three days helping him… The thought alone had Hayner wilting. 

“Why the hell do you think that?” Now it was Seifer who looked surprised.

“Because you were being a complete asshole that day to Aqua when i told you to fuck off.” Hayner said. “You’ve been borderline stalking ever since.” 

“Please. If I was stalking you, I wouldn’t have needed to ask you where your room was, or I could have just taken you home.” He didn’t deny being an asshole to Aqua, Hayner was right on the money with that part. “You shouldn’t throw terms like that around carelessly, stalking is illegal.”

Hayner raised a brow. “Then what would you call it?” 

He shrugged “Didn’t say you haven’t...caught my eye. But i’m not following you home, haven’t memorized your class schedule or sent you anything weird. It’s not stalking. I’m not even in your stupid fan club.”

“Caught your eye? What does that- What fan club?” Hayner cut himself off, the rest of Seifer’s words finally hitting. “That’s not a real thing.” 

“Sure, keep telling yourself that. You clearly aren’t very aware of your surroundings. Dangerous.” He lightly poked Hayner in the forehead “It means I like you, idiot.”

All teasing about fan clubs fled his mind when he heard that heat creep down his neck again. “Oh.” Eloquent. No one had ever been so straight forward before. It always felt like it was Seifer’s judgment that was bad. “Guess i can’t fight you on that one when you’ve just spent the last three days here taking care of me.” 

“You could,” Seifer shrugged “Just wouldn’t be very smart.”

Hayner shrugged weakly. “More just ungrateful after you apparently did so much for me.” 

“It wasn’t all that much. Mostly just napped and made sure you were still breathing, listened when you rambled sometimes.” The notebook next to the bed looked very heavily scribbled in now. “Look, you don’t have to agree. Or even give me an answer right away, think about it if you want to. I have a pretty good idea what you probably think of me.” The same thing most people thought of him, if he was being honest. “It's just what anyone would’ve done.” Anyone with a shred of decency at least.

“It wasn’t though.” Hayner muttered, oddly cynical for someone usually so pleasant. “Most wouldn’t have.” No one ever had before. “Maybe trying for a little while would be okay. See how it goes.” 

It was obvious Seifer wanted to argue...but seemed to think better of it since Hayner was giving him a chance “Wait, seriously? You don’t want some time to think it over? You're still fevered, don’t just make decisions irrationally.”

“Well, we’ll double check tomorrow but i’m pretty set on it.” Hayner nodded. “I think it sounds okay, we’ll see what we decide next term?” They could decide then if they stayed partners or decided to part ways. 

“Well, i’m not gonna argue with you anymore. I’m gonna run down to the cafeteria, grab some food. You want me to bring back anything?” It was a perfect opening to take a shower too, since he’d be a few minutes.

His stomach was begging for food. “Yes. Anything, please. At least one biscuit.” It was breakfast and the academy did good biscuits. He was already eyeing his room, knowing he’d grab his towel and bathroom supplies the first chance he got.

“Biscuits and gravy, got it. I’ll eat there, give you a bit to yourself. Just...if you start feeling like shit, lay back down, okay? Really don’t want to see you concussed.” It had been hard enough dealing with his brain turned off from fever, he wasn’t sure how bad it’d be with the two combined.

“You can eat in here, if you want. Take the key, or i’ll leave it unlocked.” Hayner said, getting up shakily to grab his things. “Either way.” He was already looking forward to eating. 

“Drink your water.” Seifer headed for the door “Depends on what they're serving, but most stuff I wouldn’t bring into a bedroom.” That he had a pet-peeve with eating in rooms was a topic for another time. Hayner being sick made it easy to add an exception, so long as it wasn’t a habit. On top of that, this room housed ingredients and obviously saw some work done. No witch should eat where they worked. Cross-contamination freaked him right-out.

“Okay.” Hayner said slowly, grabbing the bottle of water and picking up his towel a second later. “I’ll probably be here or i’ll be along shortly. Shower first.” 

“Yeah, sure.” He was willing to bet he’d either find Hayner back here or have to fish him out of the showers.

Seifer left first and it was only a few minutes that Hayner left out too. The shower felt good and he was hoping it was helping the rest of his fever disappear. This was already a confusing day, waking up next to Seifer had been more than a surprise. Having a sudden partner was new too. 

~

Seifer had ended up eating in the cafeteria before loading up a tray, and getting some weird looks, and heading back up to Hayner’s room. He knocked twice “Yo, you in here?”

“Nope, i’m here.” Hayner said just down the hall, towel wrapped around his waist and his bag of toiletries under his arm. He hadn’t bothered to bring clothes with him. He yawned and pushed his unlocked door open to let them both in. 

Seifer’s eyes lingered slightly before following him into the rooms, setting the tray down before clearing anything questionable away from around the desk “You, uh...drink coffee?” He’d brought biscuits and gravy, toast, a small bowl of fruit and a tall cup of black coffee.

“Yeah, coffee’s good.” Hayner agreed, already slumping down to sit and grabbing a biscuit to eat without bothering to get dressed yet or even dry his hair properly. He really was hungry and didn’t even bother covering up his scars. “Thank you.” 

“No problem. You normally take it black or…?” He moved across the room to start stripping the bed, with its fever-drenched sheets, and threw it into the laundry along with Hayner’s discarded clothes before heading to the closet to find new bedding and something clean for Hayner to wear.

“I usually grab some sugar for it but i can drink it black too.” Hayner said, almost noticing Seifer’s cleaning as an afterthought. “Oh. you don’t have to do all that. I can do it, i just wanted to eat first.” It was a poor argument considering most of it was already ‘done’.

“Maybe I wanted a nap on clean sheets.” He shrugged, not even pausing in what he was doing.

Hayner nodded slowly. “I mean, yeah.” He focused on eating again and reached for that notebook he’s apparently been scribbling in. He didn’t want to seem like he was watching and hovering over every little thing Seifer did. 

“It would be my theory paper that put me over the edge…” he commented, trying to make sense of his own notes. 

“So you did know you were skirting focus fever already.” He was glancing at Hayner over his shoulder as he finished putting the bed back together, accusation clear in his eyes.

“The paper was the last real thing i remember doing, or trying to do anyway.” Hayner was tracing one of the sigils with his finger. “I guess I should have known.” 

“You don’t have much sense of self-preservation, do you.” It wasn’t really a question, and he was back to being unhappy with Hayner.

“I just wanted to get the assignment done.” he shrugged, “I like theory.” And like most witches, once he was trapped in the cycle of something he liked, it was hard to get out of it. 

“...yeah, you desperately need a partner. Look, if this doesn’t work out, just promise you’ll team up with someone, at least on a term-by-term basis.” He really didn’t want to think about what could happen otherwise.

“We’ll worry about that promise next term.” Hayner said, happily sipping the coffee. “For the foreseeable future i’ll have you and you’ll have me.” he paused. “How often would you prefer a jump start?” Familiars each consumed magic at a different rate. 

It seemed to catch him off-guard, he was still trying to process the idea of having Hayner. “A what now?”

“Magic, Seifer.” Hayner said, starting on the toast. “You know, zaps?” 

“Uh….you schedule that kinda thing?” It seemed weird, he’d always just gone with whenever. Maybe asking on occasion if he was feeling a bit rundown or ‘hungry’, but he didn’t even really schedule meals for food, much less magic. “I guess whenever you feel like it?”

“I mean i’m not trying to make a schedule exactly.” Hayner said, still munching on toast. “But i’m not a mind reader so if there are particular times you know you need a boost, just say so. You don’t gotta depend on when i think about doing it. It’s supposed to benefit both of us, not just for when i’m over charged.” 

“Right…” Looking weirdly refreshed, he laid down on Hayner’s bed. “I mean, I guess I got kinda used to either first thing in the morning or right before bed, if that works. I don’t really care.” He hadn’t had a real partner for a few months now, so it wasn’t like he was accustomed to any of that now.

“Okay.” Hayner said, agreeing to that as if it was the easiest thing in the world. “I’m sure we can make that work. You ate, right?” he added. 

“Yeah, I ate.” He hadn’t been particularly hungry. Not moving around much on top of the nice zings Hayner had given him had easily kept him running.

“Good.” Hayner said, slowly going through all the food brought to him. “Do i need to call professor Trepe and tell her i’m alive?” 

“Nah. She just said to stop by her office during hours once you were feeling okayish. We can go around two if you take a nap and still feel at least this coherent.” He was also going to make sure he got in at least one more meal before trying to do anything that wasn’t resting.

Hayner nodded, easily accepting the plan for the day. “Yeah, that sounds good.” Thinking about the rest of his classes was already giving him a headache. “I’m going to have to play catch up eventually.”

“You know there’s guidelines, you get a week extension for every three days you miss; and then an extra two days for the following week’s work.” It was the same plan for both fever and stigma, and you could ask for an extension if you were still feeling side-effects or just plain needed more time.

“I know.” Hayner sighed. “I’ll need to make myself a reasonable schedule to get things done but not burn me out again.” He really hated being behind and needed to work out his time reasonably. 

He rubbed at his eyes, finished eating and was frankly, ready to sleep again. 

Seifer picked up the tray and set pajamas down where breakfast had been “...go back to bed. I’ll be right back. Oh, but brush your teeth first. Not sure you did a great job while you were sick.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Hayner yawned, happy to have the clothes handed to him. At least he knew he could do his bedtime routine on auto pilot. 

He hardly even waited for Seifer to step out again before he finished drying off and changed into his pajama’s. His teeth were brushed and his hair was towel dried and deemed good enough for now. 

There were only a few more notes he jotted down into the notebook before really feeling like he could let go and pick back up on it later. He crawled into bed, waiting for the lynx to join him.


End file.
